


A Sorrow Shared

by DameRuth



Series: Jed and Friends [3]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-02
Updated: 2012-01-02
Packaged: 2017-10-28 18:33:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/310900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DameRuth/pseuds/DameRuth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jed and the Doctor find they have something in common.  A short fic tying up a loose end from <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/310850/chapters/497751">"Merger."</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	A Sorrow Shared

**Author's Note:**

> One of the most frequent comments I received in response to the last chapter of "Merger" was (paraphrased), "What will Jed do when he finds out what the Doc's alien half is?" No doubt, readers were predicting Jed would have a reaction similar to Jack's. Thing is, Jed grew up in a Universe that never knew the Time Lords. However, that doesn't make the revelation any less important, on some levels, as this ficlet shows. Unbeta-ed -- it's all my fault.

The Doctor was drifting in a pleasant half-doze, enjoying the feeling of having a brief moment to completely slack off; Rose was taking her morning shower (alone, since the stall was a rather tight fit for three people, though they _had_ tried) and Jed and the Doctor were lounging in bed, catching a bit more rest while awaiting their respective turns in the bathroom. There was plenty of time before anyone had to be anywhere, and no pending emergencies (yet, anyway). Even the greater motion of the earth and sun and moon was soothing and peaceful, like the regular ticking of a clock . . .

He was well on the way to falling asleep again, but a twinge of awareness brought him back awake. Someone was watching him, with a fair degree of intensity.

"Enjoying the view?" he asked Jed, without bothering to open his eyes.

"It still creeps me out when you do that," Jed said, not sounding at all disturbed. He'd been a bit taken aback by some his first experiences with the Doctor's less-human senses. "Actually, I was looking for any signs of that half-alien side of you, but I'm not seeing anything. Not externally, anyway."

"You won't," the Doctor toid him. "Both species are as good as identical, even when they aren't mixed together."

Jed hesitated. "What's the other species? If I can ask . . ."

His words brought up a twinge of the old pain, but the Doctor controlled it ruthlessly. It was a perfectly fair question, and Jed asked in all innocence.

"Time Lord," he responded.

Another hesitation, then, "Never heard of them," Jed said, sounding apologetic.

"No, you wouldn't have," the Doctor responded. The Time Lords had never existed in this Universe, after all. But he and Rose hadn't quite got 'round to opening and explaining that can of worms just yet.

"Where's their homeworld?" Jed asked, still all innocence.

The twinge of pain was harder to repress this time, but the Doctor had expected it, and been steeling himself.

"It was destroyed in a war. I'm . . . one of the last survivors." This wasn't the time or place to get into the details; they'd have to cover it eventually, if things continued as they were, but it could wait, could be worked into more gradually. Just the bare facts for now, that was best.

More silence, then, "Hell, I'm sorry, I didn't know . . ."

The Doctor sighed. "No, you didn't," he said, keeping his tone reassuring and even. "But now you know."

"Where are the others?"

 _Other._ "Homeless. Wandering. There isn't anything to go back to." Saying the words, his heart broke all over again for his fully Time Lord twin. "I'm the lucky one, being half-human. _I've_ got a second home."

The silence in response to that was so drawn-out, the only sound being the distant water-trickle of Rose's shower, that the Doctor cracked open his eyes for the first time. Jed was propped on his elbow, looking at nothing, thoughtful. Proving that a half-Time Lord didn't have the monopoly on perception, his gaze flicked up to catch the Doctor's.

"Wow. I mean, I lost my family in a war, but I can't imagine what it's like to lose your whole species," Jed said, with a half-headshake.

That confession jolted the Doctor, jerking him half upright. Jack had never said, though he'd hinted and the Doctor had guessed . . . "Your _family_? Jed . . ."

Jed's glanced down, embarrassed, but the Doctor caught his chin and lifted it up. Jed didn't resist particularly hard.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, meaning it. "I had no idea . . ." _Well, some idea, but it wasn't in the front of my mind. Gingerbread, dammit . . .!_

Jed looked at him, eyes dark in the dim light, unguarded. "Well, now you know."

"Yeah," the Doctor said, and that was the end of words for a little while.

\---

Rose opened the bathroom door, inhaling to call out that the shower was free, but what she saw taking place on the bed stole her breath away.

Biting her lip against a smile, she eased the bathroom door quietly closed. Much as she liked sharing, she was learning to appreciate the value of one-on-one time, even in a three-person relationship, and those two were lost to anything outside each other. Better it should stay that way.

She plugged in the hair dryer, smiling at her reflection in the mirror. By the time she was done, she reckoned, they would be, too.


End file.
